Often times, people wear noise-canceling or noise-attenuating headphones in busy and/or noisy environments such as offices, coffee shops, and libraries so that they can work without distraction. The headphones can be, for example, in-ear headphones (e.g., ear buds), on-ear headphones, or over-the-ear head phones. In many instances, the headphones provide a certain degree of passive noise attenuation by covering the wearer's ear canal. In addition, some headphones can provide active noise canceling by generating sound waves that are opposite to detected sound waves impinging on the headphones.
In some circumstances, people do not need noise-canceling headphones to work without distraction. For example, some people have private office spaces and can close a door to block or attenuate outside noises.
While noise-canceling or noise-attenuating devices, such as those described above, may remove distracting noises or conversations from a user's immediate environment, such devices do not prevent other people from disturbing the user, e.g., approaching the user to engage in conversation.